If you are in or represent any of the bands discussed in Harsh Distractions and would like your music removed, please contact me at HarshDistractions@gmail.com and I will remove the post. I'm simply trying to turn people on to records they may not have heard, not end up in a legal battle.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Starting tomorrow, I will be hosting my own internet radio show every Tuesday from 7pm-9pm CST on Fearless Radio called Harsh Distractions, just like the blog. When I was a kid I'd stay up late every Sunday to listen to the original Sound Opinions and fall asleep to the radio every night. So, the idea of having a show of my own has always appealed to me. Now I have that opportunity thanks to Fearless and I'm very excited. Like this blog, it will focus on music, spanning pretty much everything I listen to and want to share with others. This first show is a "soft opening" of sorts so it won't be advertised on the site nor will it be promoted in any other way. If you are interested in checking it out, go to the Fearless Radio website at 7pm CST on Tuesday and click "Listen Now." I have ideas for the future which include bringing in bands, doing interviews, playing advance material, and hopefully getting to the point where live sets can be recorded specifically for the show in the same vein as the WNYU and WERS sets. For now though, I just need to get acclimated.

Monday, April 6, 2009

My friends in Weekend Nachos recently posted two new songs from their forthcoming LP, Unforgivable. I wanted to ask John a few short questions while we were at work to give people an idea about these two songs and the new record.

Steve: So, you have a new record coming out soon called Unforgivable. Tell me a little about it. How does it differ from the last few records you've done?

John: Yeah. First and foremost, it's our best stuff, in my opinion. Overall I'd say it's still very fast, but in a more crusty d-beat sort of way. It's a lot heavier, the lyrics keep getting more and more personal and less obnoxious/Spazz-ish. We're just progressing, but in a good way. It's making our songs better and way more genuinely hateful which is what the band is basically about. I'm sick of 12 second songs. Our songs are still short but they're reasonable on this record.

Steve: I'm glad you mentioned the lyrics actually because we've had numerous conversations about not being able to relate to people, both in and out of hardcore. How conscious of this are you in your daily life? How much of this comes through in your lyrics?

John: I am more conscious of this every single day, it's not good. Things get worse, they don't get better. What rules is that I've never expressed it through music as well as I have on this record, lyrically. Originally everyone pigeon-holed us as a band that was basically a joke. I understand that fully, but I really don't think that people are going to be saying that once this record comes out. like it or not, things are different now. All of the discomfort I feel in my life and with society is definitely apparent on this record. It's important to have a band where you can write lyrics about that shit. Any real person out there is going to understand why that's important, others will make fun of it and those people are pussies anyways.

Steve: What is something that you touched upon in the lyrics on the new record that is uncharted territory for WN?

John: Hmm, well we have a song about feeling hopeless and alone and never wanting to go outside. I think that sounds pretty emo-goth-whatever you want to call it, and when we started out I never ever would've wanted to have lyrics like that, cause let's face it, that's some terrible crybaby shit. I'm almost 26 now and I'm still doing this band and things are still fucked. What do I care now? The songs are going to be as real as they can possibly get. There's also a song about stalking and killing ex-girlfriends, but you know, that's not too far off from something I would've written about back in the day, haha.

Steve: Do you think a lot of bands are being as honest as they could?

John: Honestly, I see it more and more these days and the most important thing is to seriously just not give a fuck. You will get shit-talked by plenty of kids who think there's nothing more to punk rock than complaining about how you have to work every day (no thanks to all the '82 style/NA clones out there), but then again, others might relate. If it's what you want to write about, there is nothing anyone can legitimately say that's bad about that. I'm stoked on any band that seems sincere, I seriously don't care what the songs are about.

Steve: Who do you think is doing that right now?

John: Honestly, I'm just gonna name some bands who I personally know the singers and they're very honest about their songwriting and I know what some of their songs are specifically about even. Convicted, Sick Fix, Poison Planet, Cold Shoulder and The Killer are all bands who i know the lyrics are written sincerely and each and every song really stands for something, whether it's personal or political, shit doesn't matter.

Steve: You guys have gone through some line up changes since the last record. How much did that affect the song writing process?

John: It actually didn't effect things that much. We would have all had to learn the songs together anyways and we really hadn't accomplished much by the time Varg and Aaron left. Fortunately we put together a new line-up very quickly and immediately began work on the new album. Andy and Drew are fast learners.

Steve: What made you choose "Pain Over Acceptance" & "Shot in the Head" to be the first songs people heard?

John: Well the truth is, I don't consider those to be the very best songs on the record, but I feel they do an alright job of representing what sound to expect from the new record. I wanted the songs to be good, but not the highlight of the record. This way when people pick it up, they are in store for some more awesome jams than the ones on the MySpace.

Steve: When does the record actually come out? What kind of reaction do anticipate and what are you hoping people get out of this record?

John: The record comes out in May. We'll most likely release it at Maryland Death Fest. I am anticipating a 50/50 sort of reaction to it. I think the people who truly like Weekend Nachos will really be impressed by it. I think the people who like Weekend Nachos because we sorta sounded like Spazz when we first started are going to absolutely despise it and that's good. That's what I want.

Steve: Anything else you'd like to add?

John: Not really, man. Thanks for putting the songs on your blog, we appreciate it.